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Iraqi Civil War
The Iraqi Civil War (1 January 2014-9 December 2017) was a three-year war fought between the Baghdad-based Iraqi government and the self-proclaimed Islamic State caliphate, based out of Mosul. The civil war broke out after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militant group seized control of much of northern Iraq in a lightning offensive in the summer of 2014, and ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed himself "Caliph" and announced the creation of a transnational Islamic state. Starting in August 2014, IS' expansion was halted due to the efforts of the Kurdish Peshmerga, the US-led Operation Inherent Resolve coalition, and the Iranian-backed Shia Popular Mobilization Forces, whose capture of Mosul on 10 July 2017 and the fall of IS' last bases of al-Qa'im and Rawah on 17 November 2017 ended the civil war and reduced the Islamic State to an insurgency once again. The 600,000-strong Iraqi Security Forces, 90,000-strong PMF forces, and 200,000-strong Peshmerga forces defeated ISIL's 30,000-100,000 fighters, the JRTN's 5,000 fighters, the Islamic Army in Iraq's 10,400 fighters, the SCJL's 10,000+ fighters, the GMCIR's 75,000 fighters, and the Free Iraqi Army's 2,500 fighters with aid from the US-led coalition and Iran, and the war left over 194,871 people dead. Background In December 2011, the last US occupation forces withdrew from Iraq, ending the Iraq War and turning over security responsibilities to the Iraqi government of Nouri al-Maliki. The US withdrawal energized the Islamic State of Iraq insurgent group, led by the "Invisible Sheikh" Abu Dua, which carried out a spate of suicide bombings targeting Iraqi government targets and Iraqi civilians. al-Maliki's Shia-dominated government was corrupt and notoriously anti-Sunni, refusing to incorporate the pro-government Sunni Sons of Iraq paramilitary group into the Iraqi Army; many of the former pro-government fighters then defected to ISI. In April 2013, taking advantage of the spillover of the civil war in neighboring Syria, Abu Dua announced the formation of the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant", expanding ISI's operations into Syria and absorbing several al-Nusra Front and other al-Qaeda-affiliated militants into their cause. From 2013 to 2014, ISIL militants seized 70% of Anbar Governorate from the Iraqi government, and they soon prepared for an advance on Baghdad to destroy the US and Iranian-backed regime, establish a Sunni-dominated Islamic state, and implement strict sharia law. War From January to June 2014, ISIL militants - supported by Sunni tribesmen loyal to the GMCIR and Ba'ath Party loyalists - launched a lightning offensive in Anbar Governorate, taking the cities of Fallujah, al-Qaim, and half of the provincial capital of Ramadi, while also infiltrating the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad Governorate. In early June 2014, ISIL forces seized the major northern city of Mosul in Nineveh Governorate, and they went on to take Tal Afar and most of the surrounding areas in the governorate. Iraqi Kurdistan was unwilling to be drawn into the conflict, remaining neutral as ISIL grew in strength due to widespread Sunni support. Soon, ISIL fighters seized parts of Kirkuk and Diyala Governorates and the Salahuddin Governorate capital of Tikrit, placing them within striking distance of Baghdad. On 12 June 2014, ISIL massacred 1,700 unarmed Iraqi Air Force cadets in the Camp Speicher massacre, and ISIL went on to publish several harrowing and graphic execution videos on the internet to increase its notoriety. In late June 2014, ISIL seized several Syrian border crossings, as well as the border city of al-Qa'im, and ISIL soon began to transport weapons and equipment between the Syrian and Iraqi battlefields; the Syrian Air Force briefly intervened by bombing ISIL forces in Iraq. On 29 June 2014, Abu Dua consolidated ISIL's gains by proclaiming the creation of the "Islamic State" caliphate, calling himself "Caliph Ibrahim" (also known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi). al-Baghdadi called on Muslims to emigrate to the caliphate and march on Rome, and IS immediately began to enforce strict sharia law by destroying cultural heritage sites such as the Mosque and Tomb of the Prophet Jonah and the Prophet Seth shrine in Mosul. In August 2014, ISIL captured Sinjar, the Mosul Dam, and eight other towns in northern Iraq and displaced 200,000 civilians, many of them Yazidis, 50,000 of whom fled into the Sinjar Mountains without food, water, or shelter. Iraq massacred 5,000 Yazidis in the "Sinjar massacre", and ISIL forces advanced within 19 miles of the Kurdish capital of Erbil. On 7 August, President of the United States Barack Obama authorized targeted strikes in Iraq against ISIL to protect the Yazidis from genocide, while the Kurds also began to fight against the ISIL invaders. On 13 August, US airstrikes and Kurdish forces broke the ISIL siege of Mount Sinjar, and, on 18 August, Peshmerga troops recaptured the Mosul Dam. On 31 August, the US, Britain, and Australia began humanitarian aid drops for the Shia Turkmen minority in Amirli, and Iraqi forces broke the ISIL siege there with aid from US airstrikes, turning the tide against ISIL. In September, 250 US troops were sent to Iraq to protect US personnel in the country, and the Royal Air Force began to bomb ISIL forces, while Australia sent 200 special forces operatives to help the Kurds and sent 600 more troops to Kuwait. In October, Australia authorized the use of airstrikes against ISIL. Also in October 2014, ISIL captured the city of Hit after its 300 Iraqi Army defenders burned their local base and supplies, and 180,000 civilians attempted to flee the area. Assisted by Iranian-backed Shia militias from the Popular Mobilization Forces, the Iraqi Army launched Operation Ashura and recaptured Jurf al-Sakhar near Baghdad, and Kurdish forces recaptured Zumar. On 21 October, ISIL seized terrain north of the Sinjar Mountains, partially surrounding the Yazidi militias and 7,000 refugees. In mid-November, Iraqi forces briefly recaptured Baiji and its oil refinery, but it was recaptured by ISIL in December. On 17 December, Peshmerga forces launched an offensive to liberate Sinjar, breaking the ISIL siege of the Sinjar Mountains. By the evening of 22 December, the Peshmerga had retaken much of Sinjar from the ISIL forces. In late January 2015, Iraqi forces recaptured Diyala Governorate from ISIL, and Peshmerga forces retook large areas of Nineveh Governorate that same month. On 2 March, the Second Battle of Tikrit began, and government troops and Shia militias retook the city; however, in May, ISIL captured the Anbar Governorate capital of Ramadi. ISIL also began a wave of suicide bombings, killing 130 people in a car bombing in Khan Bani Saad during Eid al-Fitr celebrations on 17 July and 75 people in a bombing in Sadr City on 13 August 2015. On 13 September 2015, Kurdish forces recaptured Sinjar, and, in December 2015, the Kurds repelled a major ISIL offensive to the northeast of Mosul; on 28 December 2015, Iraqi forces recaptured Ramadi. In 2016, the Iraqi Army recaptured Hit, ar-Rutbah, and Fallujah from ISIL forces, and, in October 2016, they began a campaign to recapture Mosul. On 17 March 2017, the US Air Force killed over 278 civilians while bombing the al-Aghawat al-Jadidah neighborhood of western Mosul, the single largest civilian death toll inflicted by a coalition airstrike since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In April 2017, PMU forces captured territory west on Mosul and met up with Syrian Kurdish SDF forces on the Syrian border. On 10 July 2017, after several months of heavy fighting, Iraqi Army forces captured Mosul, and they then launched mop-up operations to sweep ISIL from the country. On 5 October 2016, Hawija was recaptured. On 15 October, Iraqi Army forces, with the help of some Kurdish PUK forces, captured Kirkuk and Sinjar from the Kurds after Iraqi Kurdistan voted 92.73% to declare independence from Iraq, and, on 1 November, President of Iraqi Kurdistan Massoud Barzani resigned after 12 years in power, ending the Kurdish statebuilding project. On 17 November 2016, ISIL's last Iraqi strongholds of al-Qa'im and Rawah were recaptured by the Iraqi Army, and, on 9 December, the army recaptured the last ISIL-held areas in the al-Jazira desert bordering Syria, leading to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announcing the end of the war. Celebrations were held in Baghdad's Green Zone, and 10 December became an Iraqi national holiday. Aftermath While the Islamic State caliphate in Iraq was destroyed in the civil war, ISIL continued a lower-scale insurgency from its natural hideouts in the Wadi Hauran region, and they used guerrilla warfare and terrorism to fight on. By April 2018, hundreds of ISIL fighters were still left in the Anbar desert, and, in Diyala and Kirkuk governorates, ISIL insurgents attacked remote villages and held villagers for ransom, attempting to build up their strength and finances for a comeback. By May 2018, however, 7,366 ISIL fighters had returned to their home countries, among them 30% of Western Europe's ISIL foreign fighters. Category:Wars Category:Syrian Civil War Category:War on Terror